Is this straight up SPAM, is it allowed, and how did it reach me?

[gurlcat]

Well here's a first for me.  I got this email from a seller I've never bought from, not one of my Saved Sellers, or even one whose items I've looked at, as far as I can recall.  I received it in my Ebay  message inbox, and since this is the first time I've ever gotten anything like it, I now see that there's no way to report spam.  Sure I can just ignore this one, put it in the trash, but if this seller found a way to use the Ebay message portal to spam people en masse, they won't be the last.  
So is this actually a common enough 'thing' that I'm just freakishly lucky to have never gotten it before?  How did this seller (or their software) "know" that I regularly shop for jewelry?  Is it not a violation of Ebay policy, and if it is, how can it be reported? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

I think he's approaching you based on what you sell, not on what you buy. He's looking for wholesale customers.

[eleanor*rigby]

I would certainly consider it spam. I have a strong dislike for that kind of thing, so I'd probably figure out a way to report it . . . eBay can see that message, of course, so maybe just contacting customer service might help. Notice I say "might."

[bossesale77]

Yup, he's trying to get you to buy his stuff to resell. You and everyone else he sent this to were targeted based on the fact that you sell jewelry. I've received a few of these since I've been selling by folks trying to get me to buy their cheap reproductions of vintage auto parts. It is spam and we used to be able to report this kind of garbage but I don't think eBay allows us to do that anymore.

[wastingtime101]

Go to the bottom of this page and click the contact us button. Scroll down the chat box and select see more. In the next round of options select contact an agent. Ask them to review and report the message.

[ckimodog]

This is all I could find to report this individual...see if it works for you;

https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022

They are obviously looking for you to do business outside the ebay platform and contacting you via ebay is a no no. Good luck. 

[ittybitnot]

 It is spam and we used to be able to report this kind of garbage

@bossesale77 

eBay removed the "report" feature from the eBay message system a few years ago.  You only can 'report' on site a user that is either your buyer or seller of record.  Otherwise, you have to contact customer service.  Seeing as how that is such a "pleasant" experience and time waster, most people just ignore/delete such communications.   If eBay was interested in such, they would provide a way to report it other than what is in place now. 

[tools*]

One thing is sure -- you won't hear from any eBay on Meta lackeys on this subject. The naive eBay of a few decades ago would've dealt with it, but the MBA eBay of today sees no upside in taking out the trash.

[bossesale77]

@ittybitnot 

If memory serve me correctly the report button disappeared from messages right around the same time eBay made it possible for sellers to send offers to buyers who "might" be interested in one of our items.

[chapeau-noir]

Wow!  I haven't seen one of those in a while.  I used to get those back in the early oughts - they're seriously nothing new.  Mine were leather companies in Pakistan wanting me to broker their products/buy their products, whatever. 

Just delete and forget about it.

[luckythewinner]

Is this straight up SPAM

Yes.

is it allowed

No.

how did it reach me?

They clicked "contact seller" and sent you a message.